Surprising Protein for Budgies

[Lady Jane]

I read and follow the group's that show budgies. For some reason I find it interesting. For instance the breeders are taking steps to come up with a black winged budgie. The other thing is their diet. They get protein for feather conditioning. Would you be surprised by feeding the show budgie meal worms?

Sources Of Protein For Your Budgies

 

[Budgiebonkers]

I read mealworms can carry parasites so I dont even give them to my chickens

 

[Mizzely]

My gecko gets 1 or 2 meals with mealworms a week when she isnt brumating. My rats like them, my birds don't care for them.

 

[Love My Zons]

I read mealworms can carry parasites so I dont even give them to my chickens

This is interesting and I have never known this. I am not sure what kind of parasite a mealworm can have since they are larvae? But freeze dried mealworms should be okay. I have purchased them before for the outside Bluebirds here.

 

[Lady Jane]

I was meaning the freeze dried. Don't think they are fed live because they can get away. My guys will stick to eggs.

 

[Mizzely]

I was meaning the freeze dried. Don't think they are fed live because they can get away. My guys will stick to eggs.

Mealworms cannot get out of anything with smooth sides or with a small lip. I have never had an escapee

A lot of the freeze dried I think are from China. Not sure if that matters.

 

[Lady Jane]

So you feed them to companion birds?

 

[Mizzely]

So you feed them to companion birds?

I do not, no. I tried once and they had no interest. They are really high in protein and fat. And I know they are hard for lizards to digest because of their chitin/exoskeleton so I'm not sure how much good they do our parrots, either.

 

[emdh]

I can tell you that I used to have turtles and I did feed them live to them and they loved them. I actually bred them-super easy. Simply put a few in a glass jar with a metal top. Poke holes in the top and fill it with oatmeal. They'll multiply in no time. Never fed them to my birds, though.

 

[karen256]

I used to have a button quail who got live mealworms. I fed her gamebird feed as her base diet, but that isn't quite enough protein for them. I limited her to 5-8 mealworms a day, depending on size, because of the fat, but she loved them. She wasn't a very friendly bird, but she would just come running for a mealworm. I gave her live mealworms, since that way I could be sure they were eating a decent diet before she ate them (they got mostly Cheeky's leftover pellets, oatmeal, cereal, and some carrot slices for water). She would just gulp them down whole.
One time, Cheeky GCC was curious about the mealworms, so I let her try one. It was not pleasant (she wanted to eat it slowly, wiping mealworm guts off her beak after each bite). So no more live mealworms for her. But for button quail, they are practically necessary to give them enough protein.

 

[WallyLoopey]

Some of my birds get dried mealworms in their bugs and fruit food blend for softbills.
I love this food and put it in my birdie bread too! It has eggfood in it as well.
Of course my honeycreepers get live wingless fruit flies and I am actually raising them now...

 

[Serin]

Some years ago, I was hand-raising an orphan robin and ordered a few hundred mealworms. Sadly the robin did not survive, and I was left with most of them. My budgies ended up loving them! They got a few a day along with my finches until they were used up.